A picture is worth a thousand words.

35 years later and 10 more people

We celebrated our parents 35th wedding anniversary, traditionally also known as the coral anniversary, over the weekend. We presented them a bouquet of 35 stalks of coral and champagne roses, enjoyed a delicious lunch at one of our all time favourite family restaurants at Imperial Treasure Nanbei in Takashimaya and bonded over our shared love for a good chocolate cake.

They didn’t go for marriage counseling, they didn’t read no books on Venus and Mars. Their personalities and interests are as disparate as can be but together, they built a family with very little and gave their children the best they could. After 10 blissful years, they made the joint decision to relocate the whole family for the sake of a better education and future for the kids, and wagered their marriage by having to live apart for the next 20 something years or so. In spite of that, they remain each other’s best cheerleader, weathering life’s ups and downs together. These 35 years is a testimony to their individual strength, dedication to each other and commitment to the family. It wasn’t after I got married and started my own family that I am able to truly understand the immensity of this. Marriage is hard work indeed.

With our parents, our best role models in life. From them we learned the rights and wrongs, the shoulds and should nots, and above everything else, the value of kinship. Sibling rivalry never existed among us and even after we’ve started our own families, we remain as close as an extended family can be.

And finally a shot of the proud grandparents with the three cuties who have brought lots of cheer and laughter to our big family. Happy 35th anniversary Gong Gong Poh Poh! Wishing both of you good health all the way to your golden anniversary!